The present invention relates to a safety mechanism for a semi-automatic handgun. More particularly, the invention relates to a firing pin locking assembly.
Accidental firings of semi-automatic handguns pose a danger risk for handgun owners. Handgun designers and manufacturers are continuously attempting to design new and improved safety devices that will decrease the danger risk of handguns by preventing accidental firings. Many different aspects of handgun operation readily lend themselves to safety devices.
The operation of the firing pin is one such aspect. In a typical semi-automatic handgun, a round is fired by bringing the firing pin into contact with a chambered round. The physical contact between the firing pin and the round causes the discharge of the round. To create the contact with the round, a hammer strikes the firing pin, which is slidably mounted in a slide, and pushes the firing pin into contact with the round. Allowing the firing pin to move freely within the slide could potentially result in an accidental discharge of the handgun. Thus, a safety device that locks the firing pin in place until the trigger is pulled can eliminate several potential safety hazards.
Firing pin locking devices for semi-automatic handguns are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,861 to Khoury discloses one example of such a firing pin locking device. However, the known devices, like the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,861, do not completely eliminate the possibility of accidental firings.
The known firing pin locks work in conjunction with trigger assemblies to lock the firing pin in place until the trigger is pulled. The firing pin lock is positioned in the slide and is directly connected to the trigger. Pulling the trigger releases the hammer and causes the firing pin lock to disengage from the firing pin so the firing pin can move within the slide. The hammer strikes the firing pin to thereby fire a round. The recoil action of the fired round causes the slide to move rearwardly to extract the spent round. The slide then returns to the forward position and chambers the next round to be fired.
The safety concern with such prior art safety devices occurs when the trigger remains in the pulled position after the round is fired. Because the known firing pin locks have a direct connection to the trigger, the firing pin locks do not re-engage the firing pin until the trigger is released. Thus, when the slide moves forward to move the next round into the chamber, the firing pin remains unlocked unless the trigger is released. The forward momentum of the slide and firing pin could potentially result in the firing pin striking the recently chambered round, thereby initiating an accidental shot.
This scenario could repeat on each successive round until the trigger is released. Consequently, the handgun could potentially fire automatically because the firing pin lock does not re-engage the firing pin until the trigger is released. Thus, a handgun that was not intended to be fired automatically could become automatic if the trigger remains pulled or otherwise jams.
In light of the foregoing there is a need for a firing pin locking device for a semi-automatic weapon that locks the firing pin after each round is fired, regardless of the trigger position.